So Much Better
by arsenik-addiction
Summary: Emmett runs into an unexpected face one Friday night on his way home from work, and decides to take it upon himself to help a certain blonde fashionista become a top-of-her-class success story. Emmett's POV, set during the first part of "Chip On My Shoulder." Oneshot for now, but more chapters are likely to follow.


This is my second attempt at writing a fanfiction, and the first one that I'm really proud of and invested in. This is just a oneshot at this point, but I really feel like I could do a lot more with this, so it may get expanded and played with a bit more. It's a work in progress. Your feed back is greatly appreciated, so it'd mean a lot if you were to review/comment. Thank you!

I, of course, do not own and am not affiliated with Legally Blonde or Legally Blonde the musical. -Arsenik.

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><p>Emmett scuffed his worn sneakers on the sidewalk as he strolled through the darkened campus, a few scattered leaves crossing his path. The night was oddly chill for so early in the fall; it was hardly the end of September. He looked up at the cloudy sky and the halo of light that was the moon. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with the knuckles of one hand, adjusting his messenger bag with the other. His mind was wandering; it had been a stressful day and he just wanted to get home and crash.<p>

Emmett rounded the corner of the library building and approached the nearest streetlamp, below which there was a park bench and a small figure perched on it. As he neared, he made out the sound of sniffling and could see the girl was shivering. The shiny blonde hair was unmistakable in the glow of the lamp above.

"Whoa, Elle?" He took in her attire: a pink (of course) skimpy corset, complete with bowtie, and a pair of bunny ears. To be honest, she looked like she was freezing. "What's up… Doc?" He chuckled at his own joke.

She turned her head towards him, dramatically staring at him with eyes wide before stating, "Love."

"Excuse me?" Emmett wasn't sure he had heard her correctly.

"I put my faith in love; I followed where it led..."

"Love led you here?" he must have been more tired than he thought, because he certainly was not hearing this conversation properly.

Elle continued, despite the interruption, "…to my personal circle of hell. It has not worked out well. I wish that I were dead, 'cause instead of a wedding and love, I'm flunking out of school. A total laughing stock. Someone he and his friends can just mock. So go on, here's my head, just hit it with a rock!" At this point, tears were openly flowing down her face and she was pretty worked up.

"Wait. Go back," Emmett crossed his arms. He was in disbelief. "You came out here to follow a man… Harvard law was just part of that plan?" He chuckled darkly. "Man, what rich, romantic planet are you from?"

"Malibu?"

Emmett felt almost angry with the silly girl in front of him. "Instead of lying outside by the pool, you stalk some guy to an ivy league school? That's the weirdest reason I have-"

"Well, why'd you come?" Elle said exasperatedly.

Emmett was still for a moment, considering Elle. "Okay." He nodded and untied his sweatshirt from around his waist. As he sat down next to her, be placed it around Elle's shoulders. "I grew up in the Roxbury slums," he told her, resting his elbows on his knees, "with my mom and a series of bums - guys who showed me all the ways a man can fail. I got through law school by busting my ass, worked two jobs in addition to class, so forgive me for not weeping at your tale." He shook his head.

"Well excuse me, just because you've got some kind of chip on your shoulder-"

"You know what? You're right," Emmett was almost angry. This rich, spoiled trust fund baby goes to Harvard to get a _date_ with a guy she likes? She wasn't even here to achieve something more with her life? "There's a chip on my shoulder, and it's big as a boulder. With the chance I've been given, I'm gonna be driven as hell. I'm so close I can taste it, so I'm not gonna waste it..." He thought about this girl, Elle, in front of him. She just didn't seem the type to go to school and not prove herself. Yes, she might be blonde and kinda ditzy, but Emmett knew she had potential. Why was she just squandering it by spending all her energy on a guy that was already taken? "Yeah, there's a chip on my shoulder, you might want to get one as well."

He stood up and started to walk away. He'd had enough of this for one night.

"I'm sorry, but that sounds highly negative," Elle said to his back.

He turned back, "Hey, I'm just being honest. When you weren't born into privilege, you gotta work twice as hard." He sighed. She had his favorite hoodie wrapped around her, and he couldn't justify taking it now that she'd finally stopped shivering, even if she had ticked him off. He softened, but said, "I want that sweatshirt back." He turned away again, and only managed to take one step before Elle called after him.

"Wait!" She stood up, looking dumbfounded. "Two jobs? _Plus_ law school?"

Emmett walked back towards her. Standing face to face, he deadpanned, "I haven't slept since 1992."

Elle shook her head, "Seriously. How do you do it?"

Emmett could help but grin at her, "Well, I don't go to parties a lot." Elle rolled her eyes and smiled as she stuck her arms through the sleeves of his hoodie. He continued, "Not good use of the time that I've got; can't spend hours doing my hair and staying in shape." They started to walk together away from the buildings that housed the classrooms, and towards the dormitories.

"I don't spend _hours_!" Elle giggled as she flipped her locks across her shoulder.

They walked together a while before he paced ahead of her a bit, looking out at the buildings as he spoke, "But I know it'll all be worthwhile when I win my first lucrative trial and buy my mom that great big house out on the cape."

"Oh, that's so sweet!"

"No! That's the chip on my shoulder." Emmett got serious, dropping back to walk next to Elle and looked at her earnestly. "I hugged my mom and told her, with the chance I've been given, I'm gonna be driven as hell. Though I can't take the day off, I just think of the payoff." They paused at the entrance to her dorm building and he faced her, taking in her pretty eyes and the goofy, floppy ears. _She really is so pretty, _he thought. _And so much potential, if she would just _try_. She could be amazing_… "You need a chip on your shoulder, Little Miss Woods-comma-Elle." She punched her access code into the keypad next to the door, and giggled as it clicked open.  
>"No, I don't! I just need to prove to everyone that I'm serious!" She ran down the hall and Emmett followed her into her dorm room.<p>

"What you need is to _get to work._" Emmett looked into the pink monstrosity he just walked into. Really, he didn't know why he was surprised, this was Elle, after all. Pink glitter, pink faux fur, pink _everything…_

"Make yourself at home," Elle told him, as she not-so-subtly tried to kick a bra under her bed. She scurried to the adjoining bathroom as Emmett glanced about the room. "Heeelllooooo, kitty," he muttered to himself. He started inspecting her shelves and the adornments on the walls, chuckling to himself and shaking his head in disbelief. "Ooooohhh."

Peeking into her kitchen, he saw an entire shelf devoted to cans and cans of energy drinks. "You drink a lot of Red Bull, don't you?"

"IT GIVES ME ENERGY!" Elle shouted from the other side of the door.

_Yes, like I'm sure you need any more of that. _Emmett laughed, "For when you're up late studying?"

"What?" her voice was muffled. _Honestly, what is she _doing _in there?_

"Studying!" He caught sight of her desk. Or rather, what _should _have been a desk - instead, it was covered in beauty supplies. _Why does anyone need four different kinds of hairbrushes?_ "You do _study_… don't you?" _Uh-oh._ "Where are those law books?" Emmett took off his bag and placed it next to the wall.

"Oh, uhhhh…. They're under the… Ohhh…." She sounded like she was straining herself thinking.

"Under the…?" _Oh, boy. I can see where this is going._ He circled the desk, finding lots of things, but none of which were school-related.

"The pile of…."

"The pile of…?" _There's a million 'piles of' here, Elle, which one are your books under?_

Elle flew out the door, and grabbed a fluffy boa off the desk. "There!"

Emmett picked up the open copy of _Cosmopolitan_ that she had uncovered.

"They're here somewhere." She shrugged sheepishly, hands resting on her hips.

Emmett looked from Elle, to the desk, to down at the magazine. _Alright. Challenge accepted. Project time. I can help her._

"You know…." He laid the magazine down. "This vanity's real picturesque, but it started its life as a desk." Emmett handed the wastebasket to Elle and started grabbing things at random. Clear it off, and find some room for books instead."

"What are you doing?!"

"Can you live without this?" _Hair cream._

"Can you live without that?" _Shopping magazines._

"I don't know what this is…" _White? Plastic? What?_

"It's for hair!" Elle was definitely upset. _Good. Step one. _

"Wear a hat. Spend some time improving what's inside your head."

"Out, out, put it in storage, sell it on eBay, leave it behind." _All of this crap has gotta go, how's anybody supposed to work here?_ "Out, out!" More stuff went in the trash bin. Emmett caught the look on his companion's face as she dug through the things he threw at her. "What, are you angry? Good! So get angry!"

Maybe he was yelling at her, but tough love, right? "You may find the chip on your shoulder-"

"Argh!" she slammed the basket down on the desk.

Emmett smirked. "Ooohh, the room just got colder…"

"Hey!" Elle glared at him, but the corners of her mouth were quirking up. _Good sign._

She started to rush about the room, picking things up, searching. "But with the chance you've been given, _why are you not_ driven as hell?!" He crossed his arms, following and watching her. "There's no way around it, you've gotta plow through till you've-"

"Found it!" She held the plastic-wrapped, pristine book aloft in her hand, as if it was a trophy.

_Well, step two…_

She strode over to him, handing it over proudly. He tore of the wrapper and handed it back to her. "Been reading it hard, I can tell." He threw the wrapper in with the rest of the garbage.

"Alright. Sit. We're going to start now."

"Start what now?" she pulled out the desk chair and sat down warily. Emmett didn't know how he had gotten himself into this situation, but once he started something, he finished it. He was going to make Elle into a star student, and to make her _work her ass off_ for it.

"You want to prove to everyone you're serious? Okay. You need to work for it, so you're starting now. This second."

"But-" she started to stand up again, but Emmett placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her down again.

"No buts." Emmett grabbed a notebook and sat down on the bed. He started scribbling furiously as he spoke, "You're six chapters behind already, but we've got the weekend to catch you up. You've got an essay due in a week too, and I'm going to assume you haven't started it yet, either, right?" He glanced up at her, as she smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Right." He looked back down and resumed writing. "So I'm writing you a study plan for this weekend. I've got to work at the library tomorrow morning, and then help Callahan grade some stuff early in the afternoon, but I'll be over in the evening."

"Tomorrow evening?" Elle was biting her lip when he looked up at her. Emmett laid the pen down and leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

"Plans? Cancel them. _This _is what matters." He stood up abruptly and crossed the room to her. He opened the book to the first chapter and placed it in front of her on the desk. Emmett stabbed his finger down at the first paragraph. "This, right here. This matters." Emmett pointed his finger at her forehead. "_This, _in here, that's what _matters._ It doesn't come easy. You've gotta put the work in."

"Am I supposed to read all six chapters tonight?!" She looked horrified.

"No, not all tonight. But by Monday morning, yes, all of them will be read. Don't worry about that now, I'm writing your study plan. Now, read the first chapter, aloud if you have to." She glared at him as he returned to his seat on the bed. He returned the stare right back. "I'm not leaving until the first chapter is read."

She huffed. "Fine."  
>Emmett chuckled as he started a new page in the notebook and Elle sighed. Her voice filled the room as she confidently read from the text. <em>She's a really good reader. She'd make an amazing speaker, too. That'll help her in court.<em>

It didn't take Emmett long to finish up writing up the study plan, and he laid back on her bed, arms crossed behind his head, as he listened to her reading. Elle had pretty much forgotten he was here, so he enjoyed the moment of peace as he slowly took in her room. The room seemed to be a mess at first glance, but he could see that she had her own sense of the order in the chaos.  
>Elle finished chapter one, and moved on to the next without hesitation. Emmett supposed he should head home, since he had his own work to get done, and had to be up early the next day, but he was afraid Elle wouldn't get anything accomplished once he left. He would just have to make sure that he got all his studying and grading done on Sunday while he was here with Elle.<p>

Emmett's thoughts began to drift away, and soon enough, he dozed off. He awoke around one in the morning, startled and unaware of his surroundings for a moment. The lights were all still on, Elle's mussed blonde hair covering her face, her head laid on desk, using a combination of her arm and the book as a pillow. At some point, she had retrieved his hoodie from the bathroom, and was wearing it again. _I hope it hasn't gotten any colder outside._ He stood up and stretched, glancing around the room for his bag. Before he left, he snuck a throw pillow under Elle's head, switching it out for the text book. Emmett marked her place, startled and pleased to see she was already halfway through chapter three. _This is going to work out much better than I thought. _

He switched off her desk lamp, covered her with a blanket, and slowly shut the door behind him.

Grinning, Emmett strode out of the building and took the four blocks to his studio apartment off campus. He found his way through his drab space without turning on a light, and collapsed on the unmade bed without even bothering to take his shoes off. He was passed out within seconds; a smile on his face and a satisfying feeling of a great accomplishment on his shoulders.


End file.
